Rin grabbed the sink as his legs went wobbly. This wasn't happening. This was some coma dream bullshit his brain cooked up from reading too much about awakening.
[This is not a hallucination]
[The fractured system is a unique evolution born from your exposure to raw fracture energy during the initial event that went directly into your blood system.]
[you remained at the epicenter for 2 years, 3 days, 14 hours]
[This has resulted in an unprecedented integration]
"I don't understand."
[simple explanation: you are not a normal awakened]
[you possess something outside standard classification]
[I chose you because your soul is the perfect vessel]
[would you like to view your status window?]
"For reals? Wait, my soul is a vessel? Too much is going on here."
A translucent panel materialized in front of him.
[Name: Rin Matsuda]
[level: 1]
[class: [undefined]
[health: 100/100]
[mana: ERROR/ERROR]
[Title: None]
[strength: 4]
[agility: 6]
[vitality: 5]
[intelligence: 14]
[wisdom: 11]
[luck: ERROR]
[skills: None]
[unique trait: fracture synchronization (dormant)]
"Why are there errors everywhere?"
[the fractured system operates outside normal parameters]
[Standard measurements do not apply]
[mana capacity cannot be quantified using conventional metrics]
[luck is a non-applicable concept for anomalous entities]
He stared at his stats. His physical ones were garbage, which tracked. But intelligence at 14 seemed decent? Though he had no frame of reference for what was considered good.
"What's fracture synchronization?"
[information restricted until activation conditions are met]
[current progress: 0%]
[first activation threshold: encounter an anomaly]
"An anomaly? What kind of anomaly?"
[any entity, object, or phenomenon that exists outside standard system parameters]
[examples include: corrupted dungeons, glitched monsters, other system errors]
"So I need to find something broken to activate my broken power?"
[correct]
"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."
[host opinion noted and disregarded]
He laughed despite himself. The system had sass apparently.
"Can other people see this? The status window?"
[No. The fractured system exists in a parallel information layer, only the host can perceive system messages and interfaces, to others, you will appear as an unawakened individual]
"So I'm awakened but not awakened."
[You exist between states, neither fully human nor fully integrated, this is why you are classified as undefined]
The implications hit him. He couldn't register as a Hunter because he wouldn't show up as awakened on their tests. But he also wasn't normal anymore. He was stuck in some weird middle ground.
"Can I level up? Get stronger?"
[yes, but not through conventional means]
[standard experience from monster elimination will have minimal effect, unless you kill high level monsters.]
[primary growth vector: absorbing fracture energy from anomalies]
[secondary growth vector: surviving system trials]
"System trials?"
[events designed to test host capabilities]
[first trial will commence upon anomaly encounter]
[warning: trials have a 67% fatality rate]
"Sixty-seven percent? You're telling me I have a two in three chance of dying?"
[previous statistics based on theoretical model, actual fatality rate may be higher]
[would you like to decline system integration?]
[warning: declining will result in immediate system extraction]
[side effects of extraction include: death]
"So my choices are probably die or definitely die."
[correct assessment]
"Fantastic."
He looked at his reflection again. The status window still floated there, those errors staring back at him. Everyone else got normal powers, normal paths to getting stronger. Of course he'd get the fucked up version.
But...for some weird reason, it made him excited.
He sat on the bathroom floor for way too long, just processing. The system window had disappeared but he could still feel it there, lurking in his head like some digital parasite.
'So I got a system. Does that mean I'm the main character now?'
The thought was stupid but he couldn't shake it. Every manhwa he'd read, every anime he'd watched, the guy with the unique system always ended up being overpowered. Plot armor and everything.
'Yeah right, with my sixty-seven percent chance of death.'
He pulled himself up and walked back to the office. The Hunter sites were still open on the monitors. Pictures of Leo throwing lightning, some woman named Khaleesi Starweaver controlling gravity, a dude called The Digital Prophet who could apparently hack reality itself.
'These names are getting worse.'
His phone buzzed.
Leo: you good? saw you were online
Rin: yeah just reading about all this insanity
Leo: lot to take in huh
Rin: your rank 47 now?
Leo: yeah but climbing. Got a raid tomorrow actually. A-rank dungeon downtown
Rin: isnt that dangerous
Leo: nah we got a full team. Jin from Japan is leading it, she's S-rank
Leo: hey want to come watch? Civilians can observe from the safe zone
Rin stared at the message. A dungeon. Where there might be anomalies.
[probability of anomaly presence in A-rank dungeon: 12%]
[recommend attendance]
'Oh great, you're back.'
[I never left]
"Can you not randomly pop up like that?"
[Noted. Would you prefer scheduled appearances?]
"I'd prefer you didn't exist but here we are."
Rin: sure I'll come
Leo: sick! Meet at the Hunter Association building at 9am. Bring your ID
That night, Rin laid in the stupidly expensive bed staring at the ceiling. The mattress probably cost more than a car and it felt like sleeping on a cloud made of money.
'This is real.'
The thought kept circling back. Not an anime, not a light novel, not some coma dream his brain made up. Real monsters, real dungeons, real people dying.
Real system in his head.
[Host anxiety levels elevated]
[Recommend sleep for optimal performance tomorrow]
"Can you read my emotions now?"
[Negative. Conclusion based on elevated heart rate and cortisol production]
[Your biological responses are quite obvious]
"Privacy's dead then."
He rolled over and grabbed his phone, scrolling through Hunter forums. Most of it was power rankings and dungeon clear videos, but buried in the smaller threads were the horror stories.
A post from three weeks ago: "Lost my whole team to a glitched hobgoblin. Thing kept regenerating no matter what we did. Had to abandon the dungeon."
Another from last month: "Anyone else seeing weird stuff in low-rank dungeons? Monsters that don't match the profiles?"
[Anomaly reports increasing by 3% monthly]
[Pattern suggests systematic degradation of dimensional barriers]
"That sounds bad."
[Extremely]
"And you want me to find these things?"
[Want implies choice. This is necessity]
[Without fracture synchronization active, host will remain vulnerable]
[Current combat capability: negligible]
He sat up. "So I'm basically useless until I find something that might kill me?"
[Correct assessment]
[However, tomorrow's observation opportunity may present alternatives]
"Like what?"
[Information restricted]
"Of course it is."
His phone lit up with a text from Leo.
Leo: yo you still up?
Rin: yeah cant sleep
Leo: same. Raids always make me wired the night before
Rin: you nervous?
Leo: nah. well maybe a little. A-rank is serious business
Leo: but Jin Hanazawa is leading so we're good. You know about her?
Rin: should I?
Leo: bro she's literally the strongest Hunter in Asia. Controls space itself. Like actual space, can make portals and fold dimensions and shit
Rin: that's broken
Leo: right? She could probably solo the dungeon but regulations require full teams for A-rank and above
Leo: hey random question but did you feel anything weird when you woke up?
Rin's thumb hovered over the keyboard.
Rin: weird how?
Leo: idk just... different. Some people have delayed awakenings. Happened to this guy in Europe, was in a coma for six months then woke up with SS-rank ice powers
Rin: nothing yet
It wasn't technically a lie. He hadn't awakened, not in the normal way.
Leo: well if anything happens tell me immediately. Even small stuff like seeing colors different or hearing things
Rin: will do
Leo: get some sleep man. Tomorrow's gonna be wild
Rin: you too
He put the phone down and stared at the ceiling again. Tomorrow he'd be walking into a building full of actual awakened people. Hunters who could sense mana, who might notice something off about him.
"Not even a day and I am already stressed."